John: Browse The Strips

Saturday, October 3, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Our dog, Willy had a permanent roost under Katie's chair. As soon as she was seated, he'd race into position and wait. It didn't take long for her to become an accomplice in the game of "don't feed the dog." This charade went on relentlessly, and the only player who lost was me.

Sunday, October 4, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I received countless letters from folks who told me that their dog hated peas as much as Farley did. I mean, they really hated peas! You'd think an animal that will happily chow down on road kill, old bones, and horse manure would (if covered in gravy) eat anything! --Who knew?

Saturday, October 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: We once owned the full set of The Encyclopaedia Britannica. I bought this enormous set of books when we lived in tiny Lynn Lake, Manitoba. It was an arctic community into which you really had to fly. At the time, the population wasn't much more than 1200. There was only one radio station, there was no library, and the newspaper came a day late. Other than folks selling things like Avon, there were no door-to-door salespeople--it was just too far to go! When a young Britannica salesman came to our door, I was surprised. I invited him in. I had been thinking that in this area some encyclopaedias would be a great investment. He started to rattle off his pitch, but I stopped him and said it was OK! I was going to buy the whole set! He looked me in the eye in absolute disbelief. "Lady," he said, "I have flown to just about every small community in northern Manitoba, and you are my very first sale!"

Monday, October 12, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Although I've never walked around with a sandwich board, I've done what I could to make folks aware that our local theatre had wonderful live performances.

Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Lynn's Comments: For awhile, I organized the schedules for performers interested in touring northern Manitoba. I would go to an event in Winnipeg called "Contact," where performers would showcase their work and arrange with people, like myself, to go to remote communities. By scheduling them into several towns at a time, we were able to get some wonderful shows into the north; dance, magic, bands and theatre delighted everyone, and selfishly, I got to meet and get to know some of the people we hosted.

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Lynn Lake did not have the best hotel, so performers were billeted with families in town. We had a great downstairs retreat in our house--a huge party room with two fold-out couches, a bar, and a Jacuzzi. One of the performers I remember most was Brian Glow, a magician who brought his entire kit of special effects to our house. He was a lot of fun and very good at his craft, but no matter what he did to surprise us, my son, then about four, was un-convinced of Brian's magic abilities.

Brian made coins and cards disappear. He pulled live birds out of his sleeve, and Aaron would say "but can you make it rain? Can you fly? Can you turn into a dog?"

Brian soon had the look of a man ready to run, so I made Aaron disappear. The resulting quiet was--magic.

Monday, October 19, 2015

Lynn's Comments: Friends of ours held a pumpkin carving contest every year on the porch of their big North Bay home. There were pumpkins of all colours, shapes and sizes, and the resulting array of faces and pumpkin personalities, which decorated their outdoor staircase, was something we'll always remember.

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

Lynn's Comments: This scenario is from a Little Lulu cartoon I read as a kid. Little Lulu had found a potato which looked exactly like her friend Tubby. When he found out, he went crazy and chased her all over town to get it. The story line ended with him eating the raw potato. I thought it was hilarious! Funny--the things you remember.

Thursday, October 29, 2015

Lynn's Comments: The North Bay Capitol Centre was almost torn down but was saved by a group of very determined people. After its restoration, it became something the politicians liked to point out as the "jewel in the crown."

Saturday, October 31, 2015

Lynn's Comments: You'd think a lesson learned once would be ingrained forever. Not so: the hangover. Even without a partying lifestyle, I think I still average one every five years.

Friday, November 6, 2015

Lynn's Comments: As a volunteer for a number of community projects, I discovered you can accomplish great things when the credit is evenly shared.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: My son, Aaron, did play the trumpet for a while in band class at school, but he was never really interested in it. His heart was in film and photography--as soon as he could hold a camera! Still, it was important for me to include music in the Patterson Family's routines, so Michael began trumpet lessons with uncle Phil. This allowed me to recall my brother Alan's lessons, performances, and serious dedication to the trumpet. His long hours of practice, with the repetitive "tattica-tattica-tattica," are still vivid in my memory.

Friday, November 13, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I think I've grumbled about this before. When a woman (or anyone for that matter) becomes the chief cook and bottle washer--charged with shopping for, planning out, making, and serving up to three meals a day, she or he deserves at least a grunt of pleasure from the bodies who are shovelling in the grub. Actual thanks is wonderful!

Wednesday, November 18, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I loved it when a punch line like this came to mind. Funny lines would sometimes "write themselves." The trouble with this kind of pun-based comedy is that it is really hard to translate! Perhaps that's why my work was in so few outside markets and we see so few international comics here. Too often the gags are lost in translation.

Thursday, November 26, 2015

Lynn's Comments: We were cautioned against letting Farley get too heavy, as this would add pressure to the already stressed hip joint. Putting him on a diet wasn't easy--he would beg for table scraps and I hated to waste them.

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Lynn's Comments: I wanted to use "Custer's last stand" as a punch line, and saved it for a Christmas gag. After this strip ran, I got a pile of letters from people who had the same complaint about flimsy Christmas tree stands, and a diagram from a carpenter on how to make my own.